On December 27, 2021, a mass shooting occurred in downtown Denver and later moved to Lakewood, Colorado, United States where 47-year-old Lyndon McLeod fatally shot five people and wounded two others.
[3] During the years that preceded the shootings, McLeod had gained some notoriety by self-publishing a trilogy of science fiction novels.
At 5:25 p.m. Denver Police received 911 calls that reported a shooting inside of a local business, Sol Tribe Tattoo and Piercing.
When police officers arrived at Sol Tribe Tattoo, they found two women shot dead, the shop's owner Alicia Cardenas and employee Alyssa Gunn-Maldonado.
[8] McLeod managed to enter the apartment only after Costilow and his family had fled; he shot belongings and set their van on fire before leaving the premises.
Around 6:10 p.m,[7] McLeod fled to the Hyatt House Hotel, where he got into a short argument with the desk clerk, Sarah Steck, before fatally shooting her[10] and leaving in less than thirty seconds.
[12][13] Searching McLeod's van, police discovered an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, as well as his tactical gear, motorcycle, and two sets of handcuffs.
The five victims killed[14] included three women: Sarah Steck, 28, Alyssa Gunn-Maldonado, 35, and Alicia Cardenas, 44; and two men: Danny Scofield, 38 and Michael Swinyard, 67.
[2] Lyndon James McLeod, also known under his pen name Roman McClay[a] (January 7, 1974 — December 27, 2021), was an American author living in Denver, Colorado.
According to his own autobiographical writings, he grew up as an "army brat" and spent some time overseas before attending high school in Ohio.
[6] Costilow, who had known for years McLeod as a client, had been his business partner at All Heart Industries but their association had quickly soured.
[25] After his business failed, McLeod lived for a time on a property he had bought on a mountain outside Denver, first in a tent, then in a house he built from shipping containers.
The plot involves a man, named "Lyndon MacLeod",[26] who murders 46 people as revenge for the double-crossing and pettiness he has faced.
The book, which mixes fiction, philosophical digressions and misanthropic and misogynistic musings, also contains threats to Ben Shapiro, Sam Harris, Black Lives Matter as well as several of his real-life victims, who are called by their names.
[30] During a 2019 podcast appearance, McLeod said that he considered Sanction as his "Plan B", a creative way of expressing his rage towards those whom he felt had betrayed him.
[31] McLeod had also made a 47-minute video called Warhorse, in which he was the narrator and sole participant, and which appeared to show preparations for his crimes.
"[29] In his online statements, he praised far-right, white nationalist and accelerationist movements such as the Boogaloo Boys and the Wolves of Vinland, and expressed admiration for manosphere personalities Bronze Age Pervert and Jack Donovan.
[20] Though McLeod's statements and writings contained racist remarks, his views had not evolved to full white supremacy as he paid tribute to non-white "warrior" cultures such as the Comanche or the Maori, or historical figures like Toussaint Louverture.
[29] An article published by Bellingcat summed up McLeod's ideas as a form of ecofascism, combined with antisemitic views of the media and vague anti-imperialist and anarchist notions.
She later reached out to police in Denver and in Louisiana to warn them that McLeod had told her he wanted to attack buildings with flamethrowers.
She later told Vice News that she believed McLeod wanted to "start a war with his final actions and inspire people to take down the system".
At that point, McLeod's finances were dwindling and he had racked up considerable credit card debt, which may have contributed to his increasingly dangerous tone.
[34] In November 2022, the Chicano Murals of Colorado Project released a documentary called These Storied Walls as a tribute to Alicia Cardenas.